Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey has revealed a new kind of VR headset, one that could be fatal for its wearer if they die in-game. Called NerveGear, this VR headset basically detects the specific shade of red that shows when a person dies, and if the right one appears, three explosive modules explode, instantly frying the brain of the user.
It’s currently a work in progress, and Luckey aims to make the production model into a headset that cannot be removed or destroyed by the wearer themselves with an anti-tamper mechanism, so they are immersed completely in virtual reality. Fortunately (or unfortunately), NerveGear is just a piece of office art for now, as the idea of tying your real-life to your virtual avatar has always fascinated Luckey, and he believes this is going to be the first of many headsets to offer the feature.
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Even so, there are a huge variety of failures that could occur and kill the user at the wrong time. This is why I have not worked up the balls to actually use it myself, and also why I am convinced that, like in SAO, the final triggering should really be tied to a high-intelligence agent that can readily determine if conditions for termination are actually correct,” said Luckey.
